Question for lawyers -- Music scammer reappears

WolfeMacleod · 09-11-2012, 10:48 AM

Well, here's a good one.

Back in 2002 or so, a guy contacted me claiming to be a rep for the Allman Brothers, and was creating replicas of Duane's amp. Turned out, the whole thing was a scam. He advertised in Vintage Guitar mag, who quickly pulled his ads when they started receiving angry calls. He conned people into endorsing his non-existent amps, as well... they then started gettign a lot of angry calls and emails too.
Around the same time, he organized a benefit concert that the Allman Bros were to play, called the Slider's Ball. For crippled kids. He ran away with the money.
Conned a friend of mine out of a very expensive amp, playing "rep" for the Allman Brothers.
Got me too. Apparently got Gibson guitars for around $15,000 worth of gear as well, but I haven't been able to verify that withthem yet. Tried to get other people I know, as well.
Was convicted of racketeering, paroled recently, then almost immediately arrested again fro "Theft by Deception" posing as an employee on a sign company local to him.
The guy is pretty well known to us builders in the music community.

So, here's the question. He's back at the Allman Brothers scam again, and trying to start up a new "company", this time, misrepresenting cheap, Asian-made products as either being made by someone who was connected with Duane, or high-dollar boutique Made in USA stuff.

A friend and competitor of mine and I begun to post warnings in our community -- links to the article above, mugshot, and his past history (that we know of) of running scams. It spread like wildfire, and I've been contacted by several people he's duped, and other builders he's tried to scam gear out of.
We both received cease and desist letters, stating that the statements we made are false.
Several people have contacted the current ADA for his current arrest, as well as his parole officer. The guy is pretty well known in his area for this kind of thing. They want him behind bars again.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if our statement aren't false, there isn't much he can do, right? The lawyer who sent the letters was local to me, and said as much when I spoke with him. If the lawyer is aware that this person is a career criminal and is running a scam, would he be helping in the commission of a crime since he's trying to silence us from warning people?
What are the possibilities here?

greglepore · 09-11-2012, 12:23 PM

Send the attorney the factual backup for your statements. If he persists, he may have an ethical problem. Probably not a criminal problem, as he can advocate for his client, but he can;t actively assist him in the commission of a crime, and once he's aware of the prior facts, he ought to at least think twice.

Head416 · Head416's Garage

I have no legal knowledge. But I would think sharing a link to a story would be safe for you, but saying "this guy's running a scam" could come back to bite you.

McLovin · 09-11-2012, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

A friend and competitor of mine and I begun to post warnings in our community -- links to the article above, mugshot, and his past history (that we know of) of running scams. It spread like wildfire, and I've been contacted by several people he's duped, and other builders he's tried to scam gear out of.

We both received cease and desist letters, stating that the statements we made are false.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if our statement aren't false, there isn't much he can do, right?

What are the possibilities here?

Here's $1500 of advice, for free.

Stop what you're doing.

What's in it for you? You are a maker of guitar parts, not law enforcement. Let law enforcement, or others, handle him.

What are the possibilities? He can sue you. Even if your statements aren't false, he can still sue you. And then you get to pay a lawyer to prove that your statements aren't false, and if a jury agrees with you, you're lawyer is $50K richer and you've been proven right. If the jury finds that not all of what you said is really true, or there is some nuance that makes it untrue, or they are out to lunch like the OJ jury, then you lose.

Is it worth your money to prove you're right? And take the risk that even if you are right, an unpredictable judge or jury finds you wrong anyways? Why in the world would you want to put yourself in that position, for no reason?

This is a no brainer. It's not your job to save the world from this guy.

KFC911 · 09-11-2012, 01:22 PM

Here's $20 worth of advice...listen to McLovin!

You owe me $20

Christien · Christien's Garage

McLovin is absolutely right. Not worth the time and money to fight the battle. You could countersue for your legal costs, and most likely win, but that's the first step in a long journey of recouping your money spent on lawyers, time away from work at court, etc. If the guy's as flakey as he sounds, he likely hasn't got the proverbial pot to piss in, in which case you're chasing ghosts trying to recoup legal fees. I learned this lesson the hard way years ago going after $30k a car dealer owed me. Thank god the legal work was my father's office and not billed to me.

btw, I recently spent a lot of time on guitar boards looking for a new LP (decided on an 07 silverburst standard and love it). I came across a lot of good words about your pickups.

WolfeMacleod · 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McLovin

Here's $1500 of advice, for free.

Stop what you're doing.

What's in it for you? You are a maker of guitar parts, not law enforcement. Let law enforcement, or others, handle him.

What are the possibilities? He can sue you. Even if your statements aren't false, he can still sue you. And then you get to pay a lawyer to prove that your statements aren't false, and if a jury agrees with you, you're lawyer is $50K richer and you've been proven right. If the jury finds that not all of what you said is really true, or there is some nuance that makes it untrue, or they are out to lunch like the OJ jury, then you lose.

Is it worth your money to prove you're right? And take the risk that even if you are right, an unpredictable judge or jury finds you wrong anyways? Why in the world would you want to put yourself in that position, for no reason?

This is a no brainer. It's not your job to save the world from this guy.

A couple years ago, there was a small company called WB Pickups. He did a similar thing, greased the palms of some forum admins to get angry threads pulled, gave away some stuff to some name players and claimed them as endorsers, and then scammed a lot of people out of a lot of money. We're talking around 1000 people by my count, perhaps more. Out of a few hundred bucks each. Sometimes up to $500+. Skipepd town, never to be heard from again, taking some people's guitars with him as well.
It hurt the niche industry pretty bad, and scared away a lot of players from smaller independent guys like myself.

My business insurance should cover any legal costs, should he decide to sue me...according to them. As well as my friend's insurance should cover his.
Some of what we have shared can be validated through the former ADA for the RICO conviction, recent arrest information, and parole officer. Slider's Ball incident been confirmed by former members of the Allman Brothers band and and other people who played that show.
We can verify that he has imported stuff from China and represented them as both "boutique made in USA" and "made by the guy who did Duane's" to various people.

In essence, we're helping to assemble the current case against him, by locating people he's ripped of recently, and in the past into one cohesive movement. If law enforcement doesn't know how to contact or how many, then there's no case, right? The only thing they knew about recently was the sign company fraud....

Somehow, even if I were left covering legal expenses, as long as he's put away with the information we put together, it's worth it to me that nobody else gets scammed..

PS: Havign recently gotten out of prison, I'm pretty sure the guy is flat broke anyways and can't afford to take it to court....

McLovin · 09-11-2012, 05:50 PM

People ignoring good legal advice . . . it's what keeps lawyers in business!

WolfeMacleod · 09-11-2012, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McLovin

People ignoring good legal advice . . . it's what keeps lawyers in business!

I didn't say I would ignore it, but I will weigh it.
We have been pretty careful only to post stuff that is verifiable.

brianmullanl · 09-11-2012, 06:54 PM

Send the attorney the factual backup for your statements

WolfeMacleod · 09-11-2012, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianmullanl

Send the attorney the factual backup for your statements

Yes, we're working on that.
I also asked the attorney for an itemized list of any "false and fraudulent" statements we have made. He has not provided them yet.
I have a feeling he wasn't paid...